My husband and I have not been able to stay with a church family for long. We've left several churches on account of heresies and practices that are at odds with Scriptural principles and doctrines.
The first church with which we were compelled to sever ties was helmed by an oversight that wanted to follow the seeker-friendly paradigm for becoming a mega church. What this meant was blindly following the Purpose-driven paradigm (and Emergent Church heresy) of Rick Warren without examining if it was of the Lord or some other pernicious and dark influence. Months' worth of investigation and cross referencing with the Bible gave us the confirmation we had needed to deem the Purpose-driven manifesto suspect. Its subterfuge proved sublime even to those trained in rightly dividing the Word of truth. It wasn't for the lack of trying that we finally decided we weren't going to stay. We had written emails and confided in members of our home group concerning our suspicion, but they seemed to think we were creating mountains out of molehills. Additionally, the points we raised, though valid, were either ignored or left unsatisfactorily addressed.
The second church which we left appeared at the outset to agree that there were problems within the Emerging Church doctrine (which was spreading its influence like a widely-cast drift net) but in practice openly taught, promoted and lived it. The last straw came for us when the Purpose-driven books were referenced and promoted in a speaker's sermon. On top of that had been the question of women in this church who assumed a leadership role and taught from the pulpit. As far as we were concerned, women leadership was explicitly forbidden in Scriptures. When questioned concerning their women leaders, the general leadership of this church presented a flawed eisegesis, rather than an exegesis, of the Bible texts to justify their practice. According to these leaders, it was tradition that had erred in the interpretation of Scripture forbidding women leaders, and Paul was addressing the Corinthian church according to the culture of the day which did not allow women to be visible.
Well, our church leaders were sorely misguided. The apostle to the church, Paul, made it extremely clear: in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 he said,
In 1 Timothy 2:12, Paul reiterated:
“As in all the churches of the saints let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, according to the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.”
In 1 Timothy 2:12, Paul reiterated:
“I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived but the woman, being deceived, fell into transgression.”
The proof texts are hard to misinterpret. Some leaders content themselves with the claim that Paul hated women or thought of them as inferior to men. Both contentions stem from ignorance as Paul himself clearly elicited:
Do these verses portray Paul as a misogynist, as posited by radical feminists and liberals? Hardly. Also, the claim that tradition had erred in the prohibition of women leadership was baseless and this demonstrated the church leaders' flawed interpretation of Paul's instruction to the church. One reason presented by the leaders was that elsewhere in his letter to the Corinthians, Paul taught that the Body of Christ, comprising both men and women, was given varying gifts including tongues and prophecy. They argued that since women were given these gifts, it must logically follow that to exercise the gifts they should have to speak. However, what these church leaders had failed to realize was that Paul was not teaching the exercise of these gifts within the context of a church service. The verses, in which Paul specifically forbade women from speaking, concerned the assembling of the church for worship. Thence women may speak outside a church service - such as at Sunday School or Cell Group and Prayer meetings - but not during a worship meeting on Sunday.
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28)and,
“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it” (Ephesians 5:25).
Do these verses portray Paul as a misogynist, as posited by radical feminists and liberals? Hardly. Also, the claim that tradition had erred in the prohibition of women leadership was baseless and this demonstrated the church leaders' flawed interpretation of Paul's instruction to the church. One reason presented by the leaders was that elsewhere in his letter to the Corinthians, Paul taught that the Body of Christ, comprising both men and women, was given varying gifts including tongues and prophecy. They argued that since women were given these gifts, it must logically follow that to exercise the gifts they should have to speak. However, what these church leaders had failed to realize was that Paul was not teaching the exercise of these gifts within the context of a church service. The verses, in which Paul specifically forbade women from speaking, concerned the assembling of the church for worship. Thence women may speak outside a church service - such as at Sunday School or Cell Group and Prayer meetings - but not during a worship meeting on Sunday.
Similarly erroneous was these church leaders' claim that it was the culture in Corinth only which disallowed women to speak and teach. In this case, these leaders' mistake was dismissing Paul's preamble to the verse. Paul began his instruction by saying,
Hence, the law which commanded women to keep silent applied to all the churches of the saints (re: ... as in all the churches ... ), and not just the one at Corinth.
“As in all the churches, let your women keep silence...”
Hence, the law which commanded women to keep silent applied to all the churches of the saints (re: ... as in all the churches ... ), and not just the one at Corinth.
That Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, foresaw a problem arising from women being allowed to speak and teach, was prospicient. For we see this tragedy being manifested today in the number of modern heretical movements being founded by women such as Mary Baker Eddy (Christian Science), Madame Blavatsky (Theosophy), Alice Bailey (Theosophy, Interfaiths), Kaye Warren (Purpose-Driven), and Ellen G. White (SDA). Paul's rationale harked back to the Garden where the first woman was tempted. It was not Adam who was first tempted but Eve. In supporting his instruction to the church concerning a woman's role, Paul alluded to the story of the temptation of Eve with the full knowledge that this tradition was not the preserve of any one culture, let alone the Corinthian culture. Eve's temptation and Fall was accepted by the first century church as a historical fact that had relevant application for all mankind, for Eve was the first woman and her sin was imputed to all her progeny. Eve's example is still relevant to both the church and mankind today.
It is my belief that women are more susceptible to being misled because unlike men, women do not consider surrendering their lives to a supreme being as a concession of their independence. Men, on the other hand, are harder to persuade to turn over their sovereignty to God or knowingly to any god. The devil thus preys on women's vulnerability and intrinsic desire for a relationship with a higher power. Satan's lies and deception are seductive, often easily convincing women that they are the stele of truth equal or superior to the gospel truth. Thus we have seen the proliferation of many movements founded by women that are leading untold numbers down the path to destruction and away from faith in the one true God.
We had sat on the pews of this church and on successive Lord's Day heard women speakers articulate a litany of heresies, often under the veneer of The Message Bible twisted, which confirmed to us their susceptibility to the subtlety of the devil's seductive prowess. Enough was enough – we had to leave.
In both these churches, there was no denying the warmth of the fellowship and genuine desire of the oversight to reach the community with the gospel, but often it meant sacrificing the truth with doctrines that tickled the ears of the youth, the feminists, the moral relativists and the politically correct. Paul warned the Body of Christ of this widespread deception:
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:13).
